Looking at faraway stuff - The Bear and Badger

superflyninja

So then anyone do a bit of stargazing?
Not done it since I was a kid but picked up a telescope very recently and am itching to get on it and possibly even take some photos.

Vela

A decent set of binoculars can get you a view of the 4 of Jupiter's largest moons and even Andromeda depending on your latitude.

Also (not an expert here) if you're looking at taking photos I think you are meant to take a dark calibration (~24hr exposure in a very very very dark room) with the camera powered by external power (not battery). This gives a baseline of electronic noise from the camera and you can use software for image processing to remove/correct for this noise from your actual images.

superflyninja

I've actually got some Nat Geo binoculars and an apparently decent starter telescope. And Starwalk2 for iphone

Think I need a thermos though for some tea....

djchump

With telescopes these days can you attach a camera to take photos?
Errr, that sounds dodgy, but I mean of the moon and sky stuff, not neighbours.

If you do get any shots, please drop em in here cos I love sky stuff - I've dropped off checking APOD but I used to check it daily.

Vela

Camera mounts for telescopes should be pretty standard now. If you don't know what you're looking for then get a telescope with a steering mechanism (auto) that usually come programmed with a full suite of targets to look at.

Yossarian

I'd love to do some stargazing but, unfortunately, I live in London where, as the great poet Dizzee Rascal put it, 'the skies are empty because the stars are on the ground'. Ah well.

cockbeard

Vela wrote:

This gives a baseline of electronic noise from the camera and you can use software for image processing to remove/correct for this noise from your actual images.

Not exactly on topic but this part made my ears prick up. A guy I work with, his brother is very into imaging and animation. Having seen the CSI ultimate enhance images going mental he ran this experiment to see about image correction and what is possible to resolve given "dirty" images. I found it quite interesting, you guys might as well

http://what-the-pixel.blogspot.co.uk/

superflyninja

Im in Dublin and the light pollution is pretty bad also.But Im hoping it should be ok seeing Jupiter and such. Im really of a mind to look at nebulae and stuff like the the Pleides(spelling be damned).And down the line grab a camera mount. Any hints n tips for starting out? Or must see highlights?

davyK

Light pollution is the enemy.

I only became aware of it when I looked up at the sky when overnighting in Donegal many years ago (a place called Glencolmcille which is in the arsehole of nowhere). It was fucking spectacular.

Anyone ever played with those toys that project starfields onto your ceiling? There are kiddy versions but there's grown up versions too.

Moot_Geeza

I recently sold a new-in-box Celestron 130Q (+ moon filter and Barlow lens) to a mate. I offered it in the for sale thread but got no bites! Was a replacement for the same model, which I used for 3 weeks before it developed a fault, and I never unwrapped the replacement unit. I'd planned to get around to it eventually, but two years untouched in the loft was reason enough to cash in. Seeing the moon through the original unit was one of the best things I've ever done, loved it, but my brain tends to work in fads and monthly flavours.

GurtTractor

Weirdly I randomly got a BBC Sky At Night magazine for the first time ever this last weekend. Quite a nice mag, had a nice variety of articles on new scientific discoveries, tips and advice on stargazing, and some equipment reviews. Also had ads and things for places that supply this stuff, so it's probably worth a look if you are into it.

djchump

IIRC there's designated "Clear Sky" areas in bits of Britain? Might be worth an outing if you've got some decent kit and want nebulas and galaxies and the harder-to-see stuff.

Moot_Geeza

You posted a dump containining a photo of someone lying on their back in snow looking at the night sky a while ago. The Northern Lights may have been involved. Replace man with me, add a flask of whisky, my dog (perhaps nice and warm in a nearby cabin), an mp3 player and some northern lights of my own, and it's pretty much the thing I'd most like to do in the whole wide world.

Webbins

Sorry, I thought this was going to be a Father Ted thread.

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Yossarian

davyK wrote:

Anyone ever played with those toys that project starfields onto your ceiling? There are kiddy versions but there's grown up versions too.

You can get pornographic starfield projectors?

davyK

Yossarian wrote:

davyK wrote:

Anyone ever played with those toys that project starfields onto your ceiling? There are kiddy versions but there's grown up versions too.

You can get pornographic starfield projectors?

I hope not.

[Deleted User]

You wouldn't believe what you can do with a webcam these days.

Google webcam astronomy.

Edit: Forgot to say, you'll still need the telescope, you'll just attach it to a HD webcam.

superflyninja

I saw that you can attahc webcams to the telescope. nuts. Id rather attach my CSC

b0r1s

Not really done any stargazing but have downloaded the starwalk app which seems fun.

[Deleted User]

I did five years of astronomy which basically involved no stargazing at all. I think I know all of three constellations. I'm not even sure that's spelt right. Spelled correctly. Spelled right? So much for a University education.

Vela

Optical? Radio?

[Deleted User]

Degree. Mostly maths tbh. And nearly all QM and relativity.

Paul the sparky

You're from Perth aren't you Vela?

The best night sky I've ever clapped my peepers on was up in Cervantes, proper stunning, jaw dropping stuff. I thought views like that were made up just for films.

Ed_Flanders

I enjoy stargazing but I live in a horribly light polluted city. I bought a pair of Canon binoculars with image stabilization and I think they are my best astro purchase ever. I have a small telescope but it's nowhere as simple to use as the binoculars. Plus, the bins are great when I go trekking.

Blue Swirl

Ed_Flanders wrote:

Plus, the bins are great when I go trekking.

Ed_Flanders (and unnamed associate), earlier today.

Vela

Paul the sparky wrote:

You're from Perth aren't you Vela? The best night sky I've ever clapped my peepers on was up in Cervantes, proper stunning, jaw dropping stuff. I thought views like that were made up just for films.

Used to be, currently Geraldton.

There's some great skies I find if you head inland to regions like Meekatharra or Mt Magnet.

My personal highlight was at Lord Howe Island (NSW coastal island halfway to Norfolk Island). Saw Andromeda for the first time with my own eyes there using only binoculars.

Vela

SpaceGazelle wrote:

Degree. Mostly maths tbh. And nearly all QM and relativity.

Ahh ok. My degree involved a year in honours and the practical component was in radio astronomy obs. Hands on time with some great equipment too.

acemuzzy

I'm another londoner so get to see fuck all. So I definitely get the wow factor when out in the sticks on a clear night - though I don't imagine you ever really take it for granted, or maybe you do?

Vela

It never really gets old though yeah, you do take it for granted. Its the time of year now where I am getting to work around 530 am and its still dark and you can see nice details in the view of the galaxy. Ghosted/faint visions of the LMC and maybe the SMC too (hard to tell if you focus on it).

I don't know what the northern sky is like, but the southern view is amazing. I do know roughly where the Carina constellation is (about a handstand right of the southern cross) just in case Eta Carinae goes supernova in our lifetimes.

acemuzzy

I slept under the stars in WA in fact. It was indeed stunning!

Vela

You also slept on top of the snakes in that case.

Tasmania has brilliant skies too including aurora australis from time to time. I've seen an almost entirely red aurora cover most of the sky circa 2002.

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